SCOTUS-ing: Senators-for-Hire Edition (with Bachmann)

A lot of people are going to have to run on today's health-care decision, one way or another, for a lot of different offices. There are a bunch of really important Senate races out there, all of them completely vital to who might join the Supreme Court over the next four years.

Here in Massachusetts, Scott Brown consulted with kings and queens, and decided that we're all going broke, the way the country has since it started footing the bill for his health care and that of his family:

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The federal health care law may be constitutional, but it is wrong for jobs and the economy. In Massachusetts, we had already dealt responsibly with the problem of our uninsured without raising taxes or cutting care to our seniors.

Which, of course, we did by adopting precisely the same system that is now in place with the Affordable Care Act. The senator was in the state legislature at the time. This has perhaps slipped his mind.

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Meanwhile, out in Ohio, Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown, Target A for the corporate money-bombing this year, is a happier camper:

A couple thousand Ohioans who could not get insurance because of pre-existing conditions are now getting it through the high-risk pool; that will continue, the benefits for seniors will continue, the reduction in drug costs will continue and there will be even more savings in the future. The exhanges will be set up and people will be able to get health insurance that don't have it now.

In Montana, Jon Tester, running against blog fave Denny Rehberg, held a somewhat more muted celebration:

Today's ruling doesn't mean this responsible, constitutional law can't be improved...But it is an important step forward in the fight to fix a broken system and hold big insurance companies accountable to Montana families.

And, down in Missouri, through a spokesperson, Claire McCaskill remains in my mind both fundamentally necessary and fundamentally useless:

McCaskill spokesman John LaBombard also released a statement. "There's only ever been one goal for Claire — affordable, accessible health care for Missouri."

(To be fair to McCaskill, Missouri's putatively Democratic governor was even more useless: "This ruling has significant complexities and implications for families, health care providers and insurers in our state."Thanks, chief.)

I'm electrified. But her prospective opponents had no problem at all going giddily into orbit.

"Today's ruling does not end the need for continued opposition to this offensive overreach into the most private aspect of Americans' lives," U.S. Rep Todd Akin said. "ObamaCare is fundamentally flawed and the absolute wrong approach to health-care reform," St. Louis businessman John Brunner said. "Today's ruling is not a Republican ruling. It is not a Democrat ruling. It is an establishment ruling. Lead by Chief Justice Roberts, an establishment appointee, more focused on keeping power in the hands of Washington politicians," former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman said.

Tim Kaine is running as a Democratic candidate in Virginia and, by golly, he's just so ... pleased about the whole thing he might just bust:

The Affordable Care Act is an important first step in curbing discriminatory insurance company practices and increasing access to health care, but more needs to be done to bring down costs. Our government, businesses, and citizens cannot continue to spend more than any other nation on health care while getting second-rate results. As Senator, I am committed to working with all stakeholders to find additional improvements to the Affordable Care Act that give all Americans affordable access to high quality services.

In that same state, attorney-general Ken Cuccinelli sees Mordor rising:

This is a dark day for the American people, the Constitution, and the rule of law. This is a dark day for American liberty. This decision goes against the very principle that America has a federal government of limited powers; a principle that the Founding Fathers clearly wrote into the Constitution, the supreme law of the land. The Constitution was meant to restrict the power of government precisely for the purpose of protecting your liberty and mine from the overreaching hand of the federal government.

And we couldn't conclude without a contribution from Michele Bachmann The Girl With The Faraway Eyes:

This is a turning point in American history. We will never be the same again with this denial of liberty interests.

Is she offering interest-free liberty? Do I get a free calendar or a new blender if I open an account?